Lord of the Rings Online is going to become free to play this Fall. I'm a big LOTR fan, so I'm really interested in this game now. If any of you have played it, can you tell me if it's any fun or not?

Thanks for posting that chart.. If the free subscription isn't too much of a pain in the ass, I'll defiantly give it a shot.

I've heard good things about it and I'm tired of pay per month MMORPGs so when LOTRO get free I'll buy some of the stuff that's not free and give it a go.

i'm in the f2p beta right now and i really like it. i've only tried the elf start so far (which is undeniably beautiful) but i actually had to scale back my playtime in it. it also seems like their free model is a step ahead of some other ones.

I would recommend it, LOTRO in the only MMO I've not got bored with after level 25.

I've played it for 3 years, and the beta for FTP. It's hands down the best MMO currently available. It hits the lore perfectly, but not just from the trilogy of books. But also from every one of the countless middle earth books. The game world is beautiful. The gameplay is about the same as WoW, which to me doesn't really mean anything. Theres allot of story involved, and the overall atmosphere is perfect. The music is really awesome and folksy in the free peoples areas, and you really get a feel for the middle earth from the books. Moria is gi-frickin-hugic. 9 regions, all with different atmosphere. There are plenty of cool raids at the current end game, and Mirkwood is really cool and gloomy. Although I haven't gotten that far into it yet.
One of my favorite games if your into middle earth, atmosphere, story, and awesomeness.

Picked it up to fill a gap after I quit WoW. Played it in it's primetime, took a long break and continued playing recently again.
Gameplay is similar as any other MMO. You can solo your way through it easy enough if you prefer to or doing raids if you're into that. A lot of other stuff to do like PvP / Monsterplay (can't say anything about it, as I haven't done it), your book of deeds, crafting, skirmishes....
Atmosphere is brilliant and fitting the lore right on spot. If you like Tolkiens work, chances are you'll love just running through the Shire, doing the quests / enjoying yourself. If that doesn't hook you, it isn't for you. If it does, there's plenty to come which will keep you attached. What LOTR fan wouldn't want to explore weathertop or other know places, all the while the story gives you a feeling, that your one of those important workers in the background of the fellowship?
It can get tedious at times, like any other MMO. But believe me, the first time you'll enter Moria and see what they did with it, your jaws will drop.
It's one of these games, while nothing groundbreaking, where it's easy to see that there are fans behind / doing it - definitely worth giving a try.

Can you go to Mordor? I think it'd be awesome to see Barad-dur and Mount Doom up close.
One of my favorite things to do in MMOs is to just wonder around exploring the world. That's why I never got to a high level in WoW lol. Can you fight the Watcher in the Water and Durin's Bane (The Balrog) in Moria?

No, not yet, but the map keeps expanding. Soon Rohan, then Gondor. So far it's Eriador, some northern areas, then it goes to Moria, Lothlorian and Mirkwood. But Carn Dum and Dol Guldor are amazing. They did an excellent job with the evil areas. And Angmar turns out to be huge. That was my favorite region. Really dark, huge and awesome, with a beastly tower fortress. Apparently Dol Guldor is huge, but I never got there.
Edit:
Keep in mind that Eriador is huge. The Shire, Bree, Lone Lands, Ettemoors (PvMP area), Trollshaws (Rivendell), Misty Mountains (Goblin Town from The Hobbit is in there too!), Forochel (Icy north) Evendim (huge lake), Eregion (big forested region leading to Moria), North Downs (huge, loads of stuff here), Ered Luin (elf and dwarf starter region, don't know much about this other than the beautiful Thorin's Halls)
So keep in mind that this is one of the biggest MMO game worlds. These regions are huge.

No, the in-game story hasn't progressed that far.

But it's progressed pretty far in terms of length. It's got a REALLY long story, with loads of story based solo and team instances. Probably my favorite part in the game.

Is it as big as WoW's world?

From what I've heard, is that it's as big as WoW with all expansions. But I find that hard to believe, because WoW has loads of regions. I do know that WoW's regions aren't nearly as big as LOTRO's, but it beats LOTRO in region count x3. Don't know about size
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/19/video-game-world-size-compared/
Wow apparently LOTRO's game world is MUCH bigger. I wonder if they counted expansions. Moria is ginormous.

Hey, I just got into the free to play beta, and am downloading the client right now. Just a quick question. How does this compare to other MMO's in terms of: difficulty; solo gameplay vs grouping; pvp; story; in-game plot development; mechanics etc? Is it particularly comprable to any other MMO's out there? Cheers in advance.